The technical term is an erg. What makes one worth travelling to is usually the dune form – linear, crescent, star or transverse – because the shape records the wind that built it. Here are eleven.
1. The Rub al Khali, Arabian Peninsula
One of the largest continuous bodies of sand on Earth, with linear dunes running for enormous distances and very little interrupting them.
The scale is difficult to convey and largely defeats photography. The Empty Quarter is the sand sea where the dunes run further than the eye can resolve.
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2. Erg Chebbi and Erg Chigaga, Morocco
Two accessible dune fields at the Saharan margin, reached from small towns, with tall crescent dunes rising abruptly from flat stony ground.
The transition from hard desert to deep sand happens within a few hundred metres, which is the striking part. The Moroccan ergs are the sand seas where the edge is a line you can stand on.
3. The Namib Sand Sea, Namibia
A coastal dune system among the oldest anywhere, where fog rolling in from the Atlantic supports life that never sees rain.
Some organisms there collect water directly from the fog on their bodies. The Namib is the sand sea where the ocean feeds the desert without any rain falling.
4. Badain Jaran, China
Exceptionally tall dunes with permanent lakes lying in the hollows between them, which should not be possible and is.
The lakes are fed from below rather than by rainfall. Badain Jaran is the sand sea with water standing between the dunes all year.
5. The Simpson Desert, Australia
Long parallel linear dunes running for hundreds of kilometres in near-perfect alignment, produced by consistent wind over a very long period.
From the air the regularity looks manufactured. The Simpson is the sand sea whose dunes are straighter than most roads.
6. The Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, USA
Tall dunes piled against a mountain range, with a shallow seasonal creek running along the base that appears and disappears with the melt.
The combination of high dunes, mountains and water in one view is unusual. The Colorado dunes are the sand sea with a snow-fed stream at the bottom.
7. Lencois Maranhenses, Brazil
White dunes with thousands of freshwater lagoons lying between them for part of the year, filled by seasonal rain rather than by groundwater.
It is technically not a desert at all, since the rainfall is substantial. Lencois Maranhenses is the sand sea that fills with clear water every year.
8. The Taklamakan, China
A vast field of shifting dunes with very little vegetation, historically skirted rather than crossed by trade routes running along its margins.
The settlements are all at the edges for good reason. The Taklamakan is the sand sea that trade routes went around rather than through.
9. The Ergs of the Grand Sud, Algeria and Libya
Remote interior dune fields, very large and very seldom visited, with access dependent on conditions that should be checked carefully in advance.
They are among the least-travelled landscapes of their kind. The Grand Sud ergs are the sand seas that almost nobody reaches.
10. White Sands, New Mexico, USA
Dunes of gypsum rather than quartz, which is why they are brilliant white and stay cool enough underfoot to walk on barefoot in full sun.
The mineral difference changes the entire experience of the place. White Sands is the sand sea made of the wrong mineral in the best possible way.
11. The Star Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
Pyramidal dunes with arms radiating from a central peak, formed where wind arrives from several directions rather than one.
The form records a wind pattern rather than a single prevailing direction. The star dunes are the sand sea shapes that are a diagram of the local weather.
Waves That Take a Century to Move
Every dune shape here is a record of wind. Linear dunes mean one consistent direction, crescents mean a prevailing wind with a sand shortage, and star dunes mean the wind cannot make up its mind.
A necessary practical note: these are not places to walk into unaccompanied on the strength of a photograph. Heat, navigation and the total absence of water and phone coverage make even the accessible ones serious, and the remote entries here require checking current travel advice as well as conditions. Go with licensed local guides and operators, and let them decide the timing.
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